Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to customer shopping and, more particularly, to a system and method for remote acquisition and delivery of goods.
Discussion of the Prior Art
Electronic commerce via the internet is rapidly becoming a standard method by which customers purchase goods remotely for delivery to a location of the customer's choice. However, there are many potential problems associated with ordering goods over the internet. For example, most internet retailers rely on third-party services, such as UPS and Federal Express, to deliver the products purchased on their web sites. From an environmental standpoint, delivering select goods purchased over the internet to individual customers using conventional methods creates a large carbon footprint, and is often not cost effective. For example, when various goods are transported from one or more warehouses across the country to individual customers, rather than to a single store from where the items can be purchased, certain inefficiencies are realized.
Perhaps more important, many customers are opposed to internet shopping. For instance, customers who are particular about style, quality or actual function, may wish to further view or otherwise examine an item before purchasing. Often, a picture may not be available for the item or the picture will be inadequate to accurately depict the item. For this reason, the customer may simply refuse to purchase over the internet or perhaps may purchase an item and then return the same after the item is later examined. Obviously, this purchasing scenario is also inefficient.
Additionally, although there does exist services which are designed to run errands for individuals and companies, there currently exists no good solution for an individual to receive real-time feedback on the goods to be purchased. More specifically, there does exist internet-based companies who will arrange for errands to be run for a fee. However, if the person running the errand purchases the wrong product, the person placing the order will not know until the item is delivered. This creates the potential for a confrontation or, at the very least, a dissatisfied purchaser who has now also lost significant time in acquiring the desired product. Now this scenario may not be too important for certain items, say milk for instance, but can be particular significant for other items, such as a dress, designer shoes or a painting, for example.
Based on at least these reasons, there is seen to be a need in the art for a remote acquisition and delivery system which provides a customer with detailed information needed to make an informed purchase or acquisition, and which provides rapid delivery of the goods without creating a large carbon footprint.